Jihan Wu: The Visionary Behind Bitmain’s Success and Bitdeer’s Growth

• Jihan Wu co-founded Bitmain and led it to generate over $3 billion in annual revenue by 2017.
• After leaving Bitmain, Wu founded Bitdeer and Matrixport, driving innovation in crypto mining and financial services.

Early in the 2010s, Jihan Wu—a name linked with cryptocurrency innovation—started his adventure in the realm of digital currencies. Wu was born and reared in China; his academic background in psychology and economics from Peking University gave him a special basis for his next activities.

Deeply interested in Bitcoin, he translated Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper into Chinese, therefore enabling the Chinese-speaking world to access the revolutionary idea.

2013 saw Wu co-found Bitmain alongside Micree Zhan. Producing effective mining hardware, the company became well-known very quickly and started to dominate the Bitcoin mining market. With much better efficiency than conventional hardware, bitmain’s ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) miners transformed Bitcoin mining.

The Meteoric Rise of Bitmain

Bitmain was establishing its dominance in the crypto market by 2017, when it was bringing in over $3 billion in yearly income.

The company’s low-cost manufacturing of mining rigs and efficient marketing techniques drove its explosive expansion. Bitmain not only built hardware but also accumulated significant bitcoin reserves, therefore confirming its market impact.

But fast success brought difficulties. Bitmain was accused of unethical business methods and more rivalry from other mining gear companies. The strained internal dynamics between Wu and Zhan also resulted in a power struggle that would finally change the course of the business.

The underlying conflicts between Wu and Zhan burst into public controversy around Bitmain’s ownership in 2018. The argument revolved on different ideas on the direction of the business.

While Zhan wanted to concentrate on keeping Bitmain’s supremacy in mining hardware, Wu argued for branching out into other sectors of the crypto market, including mining and trading.

October 2019 saw the height of the issue when Zhan was removed from his post of CEO. Wu replaced him as CEO, but internal friction and court cases persisted. Eventually, the conflict was resolved outside of court; Wu resigned from CEO in January 2020.

Founding New Ventures: Foundry Digital and Matrixport

Wu left Bitmain not slow in starting new businesses. He started Foundry Digital, a business concentrating on bitcoin mining. Foundry, running substantial mining operations in the United States, rapidly became a key participant in the sector.

Apart from Foundry, Wu established Matrixport, a crypto-financial services business meant to provide the huge bitcoin ecosystem a Wall Street-like framework.

Matrixport provides custody, financing, and trading as among its variety of services. With a value of $1.5 billion, the company has drawn large investments, including a $100 million Series C capital round in 2023.

Leadership at Bitdeer 

Wu started Bitdeer Technologies Group, a spin-off from Bitmain, in a calculated step to increase his impact in the crypto market. With data centers across the globe, including the United States, Norway, and Bhutan, Bitdeer focuses on high-performance computing and blockchain technologies.

From raw materials to ultimate product distribution, the vertically integrated firm model lets it oversee the whole production process.

Wu’s appointment as Bitdeer’s CEO in March 2024 confirmed his leadership position inside the business. Bitdeer has kept growing under his direction, making major investments, including a $150 million one from Tether to upgrade its data center architecture and create new mining methods.

Apart from his commercial endeavors, Wu actively supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH), a hard fork of Bitcoin meant to offer a more scalable and effective variation of the original coin. Wu has been critical of the Bitcoin development community for not properly addressing the scalability concerns of the cryptocurrency and thinks BCH presents a workable answer.

Wu’s dedication to blockchain innovation also shows itself in his co-founding work with the Conflux Foundation The basis is creating a new blockchain platform meant to be more scalable and safe than current options such Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Jihan Wu’s path in the crypto space is distinguished by his tenacious search for ideas and fortitude against adversity. His ability to navigate the turbulent waters of the cryptocurrency industry and become a major player demonstrates his vision and will.